to observe the Lord's table together.
And don't forget the Lord said, this do. It's not a matter of,
it doesn't matter whether you do it or not. This is a command
just like baptism. This do in remembrance of me. I'm going to bring a message on the grace of giving. The grace. If I don't understand
this as a grace, I don't understand it at all. The grace of giving. You know, preachers can manipulate
people. You need to give. As soon as
somebody tells me what I need to do, I don't want to do it.
You need to tithe. Where's that in the Bible? It's
not in the New Testament, that's Old Testament law. When I feel
manipulated, when I feel shamed into giving, irritates me. I hate it when
preachers do that. But I want us to understand giving
in the light of grace. This is a gospel issue, the grace
of giving. And look in verse three of 1
Corinthians 16. And when I come, whomsoever you
shall approve by your letters, then will I send to bring your
grace. That's what he calls this thing
of giving, to bring your grace to Jerusalem. Now that word is
the same word Paul uses in Ephesians chapter two. Verse eight, by
grace you are saved. I guess you could just as easily
say by God's giving you are saved. By grace are you saved. Now, turn over to 2 Corinthians
8 for a moment. Moreover, brethren, verse one,
Moreover, brethren, we do you the wit of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia, and how that in a great trial
of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded under the riches of their liberality. Now this is talking about their
giving, the grace of giving. When he talks about the grace
of God, he talks about the grace bestowed upon them that caused
them to give. Verse three, for to their power
I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing
of themselves. They didn't have to be manipulated. They didn't have to be pressed. You all need to give. This came
of themselves. It wasn't manipulation. praying
us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift. They
were saying, please take this and take upon us the fellowship
of the ministering to the saints. And this they did not, as we
hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to us
by the will of God, insomuch that we desired Titus that as
he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace
also. He's calling giving a grace.
Therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance and knowledge
and in all diligence and in your love to us, see that you abound
in this grace also, this grace of giving. Now, I speak not by
commandment. I'm not telling you what to do.
You know, as soon as you make a commandment, it's law. As soon as you make a commandment,
it's law. I speak not by commandment. but
by occasion of the forwardness of others to prove the sincerity
of your love. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. Now, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are
dedicated to this thing of giving, two whole chapters. in the Bible,
dedicated to what is meant by giving, the grace of giving. Now this I know, love gives. Isn't that the definition of
love in the first place? Love gives. If you love your spouse,
you're gonna give of yourself to your spouse, aren't you? If
you love your children, you're gonna give of yourself to your
children. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son. He that spared not his own son. This is what he gave. He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him also freely give us all Paul said, he loved me
and he gave himself for me. And where there is no giving,
in reality there is no love. You know that so. Love gives. Now if a preacher seeks to manipulate
me, or give me commandments regarding giving, how much I need to give,
or if I'm shamed into giving, My gift is not a gift. It's payoff. It's hush money. That's what
it is. It's hush money. Now, giving
is actually a part of public worship. Now, am I talking about
passing the plate? Well, I love that we don't pass
a plate. I hate it when I, I just hate that. I mean, because people
are being manipulated at that point. I don't want somebody to see
me not putting money in the plate. That makes me look bad. Any kind of
manipulation with regard to giving is just wrong. It's fleshly. It's not of God. The grace of
giving, not the, I'm ashamed not to. Not I'm manipulated to
do it. I hate it when preachers do that
and you do too. But our giving still is a part
of worship in the sense that Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9,
12, He called it the administration of this service. When he's talking
about giving, in 2 Corinthians 9, 12, he calls it the administration
of this service. Service is where we get the word
liturgy from, public worship. Now, obviously, that doesn't
mean we are to make known publicly how much we give. You know, the
Lord said, let not thy right hand know what thy left hand
doeth. Don't sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites.
Look how much I'm giving. That's never the way to give.
This is not about trying to promote myself, but it certainly included
in what Paul said in Romans 12, 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Now, this is the administration
of that service. And in this passage of scripture
in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, We are given instructions with
regard to what the Bible says with regard to giving. And if
I don't preach the gospel from this passage of scripture and
from this message, if I'm just trying to exhort people to give,
then I've not preached the gospel and I'm not doing this right.
I pray that the gospel of God's free grace is preached through
this message. Now, I have no doubt that every
believer is interested in this thing of giving. Not what religion
does with it, but as far as a truly generous spirit. And the way
we're going to look at this passage of scripture, we're going to
use the journalistic approach. Now what in the world does that
mean? Who, what, when, where, why, and how? That's the journalistic
approach. Who is to give? What is to be given? when they
should give, where we are to give, why we are to give, and
how we are to give according to the scriptures. Now, who's
to give? Who's to give? Back to 1 Corinthians
16. Now concerning the collection
of the saints, evidently Corinth, the church of Corinth had asked
him about this. And that's why he says, now concerning this,
this is one of six times he says this in this epistle. Now concerning
the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the
churches of Galatia, even so do ye, upon the first day of
the week, let every one of you. Who's to give? Every one of you. Everybody is to give. Give. Rich, poor, middle class, fixed
income, old, young, male, female. Everybody is to give without
exception. Let every one of you give. Somebody says, well, my gift
doesn't make any difference. Let the rich give. I mean, what
I have doesn't help to give. What did the Lord say about the
widow's two bites? She hath given more than they all. Now, if somebody put two bites
back there in the box, somebody might say, well, that's not gonna
help pay the lie bills. The Lord doesn't look at how
much, he looks at how. You see, the Lord's got a lot
of money, and he doesn't need your money. Your money's his
anyway. So this idea of, well, my gift
is insignificant, well, the widow with the two mites, she gave
more. Not typically more. In the Lord's eyes, she gave
more than they all. God's not looking at the amount. I repeat, he's got plenty of
money. He's looking at the attitude
and the spirit of giving. He said by the treasury and beheld
how they give, not how much, but how they gave, the attitude
and the spirit. Think of this scripture. It's
found in 2 Corinthians 8 or 9. I can't read it. It's in there.
God loveth a cheerful giver. I love that verse of scripture.
Someone who doesn't find it a burden and a loss to give, but someone
who finds it a privilege and they enjoy doing it. It's something
that we love doing. God loveth a cheerful. The word is literally where we
get the word hilarious from. He gets joy out of doing it.
If you can't get joy out of doing it, don't do it. God loveth a
cheerful giver. And let me remind you once again,
he doesn't need your money. God is infinite. He's got everything. What you have is His anyway.
Don't look at it in any other way. God loveth a cheerful giver. Now, what are we to give? It's
a good question. I read once where somebody said
we're to give our time, our treasures, or our talents and our treasures,
those three things. Now, I give my time. You know, it's a sad spectacle
when we have a hard time fitting worship into our lives. I give my time. I give my talents. Everybody has a God-given gift. You can read about that in Romans
chapter 12. Somebody says, I don't have a gift. If you're a believer,
you do. As a matter of fact, turn to Romans 12 real quick. Verse six, having then gifts. This is talking about the whole
church. Or verse five, so we being many are one body in Christ
and everyone members one of another, having then gifts, differing
according to the grace that's given us. Whether prophecy, let
us prophesy according to the proportion of faith. Ministry,
being a servant. Somebody says, I don't have that
gift. Well, yeah you do. Being a servant. A minister,
let us wait on our ministry. He that teacheth on teaching.
He that exhorts, encourages on exhortation. He that giveth,
let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence.
He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Now those are gifts. Those are
gifts. Everybody has some gifts to operate in the church. And
here he's talking about money. Somebody read in the back out
of 1 Timothy 6, the love of money is the root of all evil. That's
what the Bible says. Not money, but the love of money. The love of what money can do
for you. Oh, it can make me powerful. It can buy pleasure for me. It
can make me highly esteemed. The love of money is the root
of all evil. What are we to give? Our money.
When should we give? Remember, we're looking at the
journalistic approach. When should we give? Well, look
what Paul says in our text in 1 Corinthians 16. Now concerning the collection
for the saints, as I've given order to the churches of Galatia,
even so do ye upon the first day of the week. Let every one
of you lay up in store. When? Upon the first day of the
week. Does that mean every Sunday?
The point is, regularly. In a systematic, premeditated,
and disciplined way to do good and communicate, forget not. Communicate means to give. To
give. Forget not, let him lay in store
as God has prospered him. When should we give? Well, if
you're paid once a month, give once a month. If you're paid
once a week. The point is, you do it. You
do it regularly. It's something in front of you,
before you. Let him lay in store. That's
a premeditated way. Let him lay in store. Giving
comes first. It's not, after all, my bills
are paid, my entertainment's taken care of, and if there's
anything left over, then I get, no. Giving is to come first. Christ is all. Giving is to come
first. Let him lay in store as God has
prospered him. The point is, every Sunday, well,
wouldn't be, that's fine, every Sunday, is it once a month? That's
fine, your own money will only be paid once a month, but the
point is regularly. He says, let him lay in store
every Sunday. Now, where should I give? Well,
look what he says in verse one of chapter 16, now concerning
the collection for the saints as I've given order to the churches
of Galatia, even so do ye. Now this is his instruction to
the churches of Galatia. Now give to any charity you want
and give plenty. Give plenty. I don't care what
charity is. Give to it as much as you want
to, but the primary focus of giving has something to do with
the church, with reference to the spread of the gospel. That is why we give. We're giving
as unto the Lord for his glory to the church for the spread
of the gospel. Why give? Love. Love. Every time I give, I hope
I'm remembering this is as unto the Lord. His love to me. This is the argument for giving.
Somebody says, I'm afraid if I don't give, God will take it
out somewhere else. Don't give that then. That's
awful. If you don't give, God'll take
it out in a coffin. If you don't give, you'll get sick. If you
don't give, you'll have a car wreck, something terrible will
happen to you. That's horrible. If that's my attitude about giving,
don't give. It's an insult to God to give
that way. Well, if I give, I'll get a lot more in return. I mean,
it's a good investment. If I give 10%, God'll give me
back 20% or 30%. I'll make money out of this.
That's not giving. You give hoping for nothing in
return. If you're thinking of a return, you're going to get
out of it. That's not giving. That's paying some kind of bill.
That's making some kind of investment. It is not giving. The only motive for giving is
love. Love to Him. If you love, you
give. That's what folks do who love.
They give. If you love your spouse, you
give of yourself to them. You give of yourself to your
children. Love gives. How are we to give? Remember when the Lord was looking
at the woman, the poor widow, casting in her two mites? It
says he looked at how. They gave. Many that were rich
gave much, but the widow with the two mites, she gave more
than they all. The Lord looks at how we are
to give. Well, look back in verse Corinthians
chapter 16, verse two. Upon the first day
of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God
hath prospered him. That's how I'm to give, as God
has prospered me. And we're called upon to give
as he's prospered us, not what we don't have. I've seen preachers
try to get people to, well, we need, you know, get along to
give, to help us out. No. You're to give as God has
prospered you, not what you don't have, but what you do have, as
God has prospered you. I love the way Paul said, if
there be first a willing mind. Willing, not unwilling, not oh,
I'm losing my business. No, willingly, because you want
to, because you find it a privilege of grace to. Give as God has
prospered you. Now, there's nothing in the Bible
about telling you how much to give. You need to give 10%. I
give my tithe. That's law, that's Old Testament. There's nothing said about that
in the New Testament with regard to giving. You give as God has
prospered you. You give whatever, I love what
Paul said, as a man purposes in his heart, so let him give. How much should I give? However
much you purpose in your heart. Now, you feel led to give something,
give it. Don't wait because you'll lose
it. You'll lose that. If you wait long enough, whatever
you're impressed to do, you'll not do it. Whatever you feel
you purposed in your heart, that's what the way Paul put it. Whatever
a man purposes in his heart, so let him give. That's 2 Corinthians,
well, look at it with me. 2 Corinthians chapter nine. Remember
we're talking about how to give. Verse seven, every man according
as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly,
not because it's a duty or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful
giver. How much am I to give, however
much I purpose in my heart? I repeat, giving is a love language. Giving is a love language. 2 Corinthians 8-12, for if there
first be a willing mind, it's accepted according to that a
man hath, and not according that he hath not. There must be a
willingness. How am I to give? Generously
and bountifully. Look in chapter 9, verse 5, 2
Corinthians. Therefore I thought it necessary
to exhort the brethren that they should go before unto you and
make up beforehand your bounty. Where have you had notice before
that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and not
as of covetousness? But this I say, he which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He's talking about giving. And
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every
man according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give,
not grudgingly or of necessity, because it's a rule, because
you're being manipulated, for God loveth a cheerful giver.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always,
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
work. Now, giving generously, sacrificially,
and if you think it's a sacrifice, it's bad. Well, I'm really sacrificing. No, this is a privilege of grace. Love gives. Now what I wanna
do is turn to Romans chapter eight now. I've talked about our giving,
let's look at his giving. Verse 28. And we know. I hope you'll follow along in
your Bible. Romans chapter eight, verse 28. Remember the Bible
is the word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God to them
who are called according to his purpose. Now let me ask you a
question. Do you love God? Do you love him as he's revealed
in his word? I could say it like this. Do you love the fact that
God is sovereign and he controls everybody and everything? Do
you love the fact that God is absolutely just and holy? Do you love that he's gracious?
Do you love that he's all powerful? Do you love that he's immutable
and that he's independent and that he has no needs? He's the
creator of the universe. Do you love His graciousness?
How He gave His Son? If you do love God, that was
His gift to you. The only reason you love God,
because you're the called according to His purpose. That's where
that love comes from. It didn't come from you. Why,
the love you have is His gift to you. You have been the called
according to His purpose. God is a God of purpose. There's
no such thing as chance. There's no such thing as luck.
There's no good luck. There's no bad luck. God is a
God of purpose. Somebody says, doesn't He give
everybody a chance? Salvation's not by chance. It's by the purpose
of God. Them that love God, who are they? The ones who are called according
to His purpose. Four, verse 29. whom he did foreknow. Is that everybody? Well, he knows
who everybody is. He knows your name. He knows
what you've done. He knows what I've done. He knows
all that stuff. What he's talking about is love. Remember when
he says to that group, I never knew you. Oh, he knew exactly
who they were and what they'd done, but I never loved you. Whom he did foreknow, he knew
before it. Whom, not what. Somebody says,
God knows everything that's going to happen. Well, of course he
does. He's God. But that's not what it's saying. It says, whom
he did foreknow. What? Them he also did predestinate. Does the Bible teach predestination? Of course it does. Do you really
believe that? Yes, I do. We have it. Whom he did foreknow, them he
also did predestinate. To be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Now, here's what God did for you, if you're a believer. He
foreknew you, and He predestinated you to be conformed to the image
of His Son, Jesus Christ. What could be better than that?
This is my future. This is my present. Somebody
says, you don't live that way. I know I don't. It doesn't take
away from the reality of it. I'm accepted in Christ. According
to scripture, I'm already glorified. And that's only known by faith.
One of these days it will be known by experience. whom he
did foreknow, then he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Verse 30, Romans chapter eight,
moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called. Now you want to talk about a
gift, to be called by God? Not everybody's called by God. Are you? What a gift of His grace
to be called by God, to be called out of darkness into His glorious
light, called of God. Lord, call me. Call me. I don't want to be left to myself. Call me. Let me tell you what
the called do. They call. If He's called you,
you know what you're going to be doing? You're going to be
calling on Him. Lord, save me. Lord, reveal Yourself to me. Don't
pass me by. And whom He called, the quote
says next, then He also justified. And let me tell you what that
means. If God's justified you, that
means you stand before God as one who has never sinned. How attractive is that to you?
to stand before God as one who's never sinned. Well, how could
that be? Because Christ bore your sin
and put it away, gave you his righteousness to where it's actually
yours. Just as truly as your sin became
his sin, his righteousness becomes your righteousness. It's the
gospel of substitution. Every believer stands before
God justified. You want to talk about a gift?
The gift of righteousness? of standing before God without
guilt? And it says in verse 30, whom
he justified, them he also glorified. Now this is how secure my salvation
is. This is not talking about he
will glorify, I'm already glorified in Christ. You see, my salvation
is utterly in Christ. Everything God requires of me,
looks to his Son for, is Jesus Christ glorified. I am too. Verse 31, what shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? What a gift. Having God for you. Having him who's omnipotent,
omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign. Whatever you want to say about
him that he's revealed himself in his word, he's for you. Who can be against you? Nobody
can. You know if I'm against you,
big deal. It means nothing if God's for
you. If you're against me, now listen, I want you to like me,
don't get me wrong. I want to be liked, I'm not saying I'm
indifferent about something like that, I wouldn't be. But if you're
against me, God's for me. What else could
somebody want? Verse 32, here's his gift. He
that spared not his own son. That's what God gave. He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him freely
give us all things? What could prevent him from giving
you everything? He's already given his son. You
think there's anything he'll withhold from you? No, he gives freely all things. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Now, First, God's got an elect. It's those people he chose before
time began. Now, who's gonna lay anything
to their charge? Do you know there's nothing to condemn me
for? Nothing can be brought against my charge. I stand before God,
perfect in Christ Jesus. Nothing can even be laid to my
charge. You know, most religious people,
People that claim to be Christians, they think, well, you know, there's
going to be a judgment of the believers where they're going
to be rewarded according to their works. And some will get big
mansions, others will be in shacks. You know, there's this big difference. You've just taken away the gospel
when you say something like that. The gospel is that nothing can
be laid to my charge. Well, he's gonna get a shanty
and glory and somebody who did all these good works is gonna
be given this mansion. That's a complete denial of what
the gospel is in the first place. Nothing can be laid to the charge
of God's elect. Verse 33, you see God justified
them. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Somebody says, what about your
sins? It's Christ that died. I don't
need any other answer. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. That's all I need. It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather, that's risen. You
know the reason he was risen? It's because God was completely
satisfied with everything he did. And he's completely satisfied
with everybody he did it for. He's risen. Who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ. Nobody can. Nobody can. Now this is God's gift. I love the way Paul summed it
up in second Corinthians chapter Nine, by saying thanks be unto
God for his unspeakable gift. Now I want you to think, God
gave you a new heart. It wasn't there when you were
born. God gave you faith. It's his
gift. God gave you repentance, that
complete change of mind where you have a change of mind with
regard to his character, your own character, salvation. God gave you that. The love you
have for Him, He gave you. He's given you the gift of righteousness.
He's given you the gift of perseverance. You're going to persevere all
the way to the end. You see, the gifts and callings
of God are without repentance. He never changes His mind. He
never takes something back. The Lord said, if you knew the
gift of God. Now listen to me. The gift of
God is without any strings attached. And it's the only gift like that.
When I give a gift, when you give a gift, I want to do it
with no strings attached, but there's always bad motives with
me. Everything I do. You too. If you say, I'm not
like that. Yeah, you are. You just don't
know it. You are like that. We all have these sinful natures. Carry with us, the only truly
free gift with no strings attached is the gift of God. You think
he needs anything from you? No. If you knew the gift of God and
who it is that saith that he give me to drink, you would have
asked and he would have given you living water. The grace of giving. It's a grace. Giving is a love
issue. It's a trust issue. I trust Him
to take care of me. You know, if I gave everything
I had, the Lord would take care of me. That's
the point. I trust Him to take care of me.
And I do trust Him. It's amazing how We can find
this in our flesh, we can trust him to take care of our salvation,
but we have problems with material. What if I don't have enough money
to pay my bills? The Lord's gonna take care of us, always, at all
times. Giving is a grace, the grace
of giving. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your unspeakable gift. And Lord, how sorry we are in
our sorry attitude toward giving. Enable us to see this as a gift
of your grace to be enabled to give. Lord, make us truly cheerful,
willing-hearted givers. Deliver us from being moved by
manipulation and by guilt and by shame and by duty and by necessity. Lord, we thank you. for the freeness and completeness
of your gift and that we stand complete in your son. In his
name we pray, amen.